Honor Your Fathers

One of the Ten Commandments promises us long life if we obey it. Exodus 20:12 (NIV) reads, “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”

I would like to honor my father and my father’s father on this Father’s Day, 2018.

My father, Julius “Finny” Hughes, Sr., was born November 28, 1922. He served in the Navy on board an aircraft carrier during WWII.  He was in the naval air corp and was the gunner on a fighter plane when the armed forces took the Gilbert Islands. My father engaged in the Battle of Tarawa. It was one of the bloodiest battles fought in the South Pacific. His mission was secret, so my grandparents never knew where he was once he shipped out from San Diego, California in 1942. It was the talk of his hometown when he was able to write his parents on his 20^th birthday.

Dad grew up in Hopewell, Virginia, which was a small community in the central part of the state. PaPa and Grandma were overjoyed when they received his letter. They were anxious to see their son again and so thankful to hear from him. My grandfather rushed this letter down to the local paper:

I love my father in spite of my difficult childhood. The war left him broken. Like many of our military dads, he spoke little of the horrors he witnessed. Yet, now and then, when he reached the bottom of his bottle, he would share something. A little detail here, some sight he witnessed there. What he shared with me as a young teen was enough for me to realize what he experienced haunted him. PTSD existed but wasn’t a known diagnosis then. Though not often expressed, the pain of war remains buried in the memories of the men and woman who served.

After the war ended, Dad learned a trade as a sheet metal worker through the Steel Workers Union. He labored long, excelled at his craft, and carried the reputation of being one the best journeyman welders in his day. If you’re familiar with the Richmond, Virginia area you may recognize some sites where my father worked. He welded the top floor panel on the sightseeing deck of the replica of the Eiffel Tower at Kings Dominion Amusement Park in Doswell, Virginia. That was back in the early ’70’s. The welds haven’t failed yet. He also worked sheet metal and welding for the top structures of the Federal Reserve Building and the Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia. My Daddy wasn’t afraid of heights.

Finny was the son of two godly parents, Leon and Essie Hughes, who were part of the First Pentecostal church in Hopewell. PaPa was the town barber and he faithfully served his church until he died on February 9 1958, just one year before I was born. My little red-headed grandmother never dated or remarried. She died a widow at the age of eighty-nine. She was a faithful and pure woman of God who raised her sons and daughters to serve Jesus.

My grandfather was instrumental in carrying out a successful radio program encouraging others to go to Sunday school. (This is where I inherited my love for Sunday School). He also served as treasurer for many years. The church loved my grandparents and honored PaPa with an obituary that spoke of his faithfulness, love for God and others, and his integrity. (Leon Hughes’ Obituary is featured in the left column.)

My father came to know Jesus as his personal savior before his death in 1986. His brother-in-law, Joe Synan and Pastor Maurice Synan prayed with my dad while he lay in a hospital bed suffering from lung cancer. Dad passed from death unto life, not when he drew his last breath, but when he repented of his sins and asked Jesus for forgiveness.

I hope you took the opportunity to honor your father in person or in memory today. God didn’t ask us to honor only the honorable; He commanded us to honor our fathers no matter how broken or dysfunctional. We are all flawed and fallen under the same curse. Sin lurks in our hearts. I’m thankful Jesus was gracious to me. Because of Him, I choose to honor the memory of my Dad and my PaPa.

When Finny Hughes stepped into eternity I am sure he was greeted with hugs and kisses from a loving mother and father who prayed long and hard for their “little black sheep.”

I love you, Daddy, and Happy Father’s Day. See you soon.